THE OUTLOOK : PROSUMERS
Prosumers : The Emerging Stakeholder In the Future of Tech
Christoph Schell , HP ’ s Chief Commercial Officer , looks at the accelerating development of blended customer segments .
BOUT 20 YEARS AGO IN EUROPE , I began to notice
A a trend : businesspeople shifting from selecting flashier company cars toward ones that could double as personal , practical vehicles for their families . Manufacturers then caught on and began to combine luxury with practicality . Today , we ’ re seeing a similar shift in technology as people seek technology designed for personal-professional flexibility that can also deliver enterprise-level security , workflows , and experiences . These newly empowered customers are known as “ prosumers .”
Originally coined by futurist Alvin Toffler in his 1980 book
The Third Wave to describe the active role consumers would play in the commercialization of goods , the term prosumer stems from the words producer and consumer . Others define prosumers as a combination of “ professional users ” and “ consumers .” Both definitions imply the same concept : the increasing ability of consumers to inject individuality into not just how technology is used but how it ’ s designed from the start . Now technology is being used more fluidly than ever before , presenting a significant opportunity for vendors to pull capabilities across consumer and commercial tools .
Driving enterprise-grade capabilities The rise of prosumers is not simply an opportunity for vendors to capture and commodify an untapped customer segment ; it ’ s an opportunity to put real , tangible , and human-driven insight at the core of how we design technology .
In the past , providing value meant shifting back and forth between the professional and consumer ’ s point of view . Because those customer segments have blended , it becomes easier to understand the nuanced needs of the entirety of the individual . Additionally , a shift from one-time transactional sales toward outcomes-based business models allows vendors to get closer to customers , more nimbly adjust
“COMPANIES MUST USE INSIGHTS FROM DIGITAL INTERACTIONS TO UNDERSTAND END USERS ’ NEEDS , MOMENT TO MOMENT ."
service offerings , and provide sharper value propositions across all segments .
During the first wave of workplace disruption last year , business leaders faced a dual challenge : drive employee engagement in work-from-home environments with technology that mirrored that of the office while reducing costs . In fact ,
a recent survey found that scaling up tech capabilities is the top priority for 53 % of CTOs in the new hybrid workplace . What ’ s more , using personal devices for professional purposes , or bring-your-own-device ( BYOD ), continues to accelerate , with
improved mobility and greater employee satisfaction driving the trend . For hybrid
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE PUGLIESE ; ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM MCCAULEY
HP / INNOVATION / SPRING 2021 6